He was dressed in a soldier's uniform, and was talking to their father. They heard him say, "Well, I have joined the army."

They ran down stairs and threw their arms around their Uncle's neck.

"Oh Uncle Jack, are you really a soldier, and are you going to war?" Bobby cried.

"Yes, Bob, I have enlisted," his uncle said, "and now I am in the ranks."

"Please tell us what it is like to be a soldier," Eleanor said.

Uncle Jack laughed, and took the children into the library. He sat down before the fire with Eleanor on one knee and Bobby on the other and told them about the soldiers who defend our country.

"You know fighting is not as it used to be in the olden times," he said, " when the soldiers met on battlefields and faced each other. Nowadays, most of the fighting is done in the trenches."

"What are trenches?" Bobby asked.

"They are long ditches dug in the earth," Uncle Jack said., "and our soldiers fight the enemy from them. Sometimes they never even see the men they are fighting.

"But trench fighting is not the only kind. There are battles in the air and sometimes our soldiers meet the enemy face to face. Many of the cannon they use are so big it takes half a dozen men to fire them. Sometimes these guns are on automobiles and are built so they can fight aeroplanes.

"The battles in the air are fought by aeroplanes. They are big machines which have wings and fly in the sky like birds. The men who ride in them are called Aviators, and they are very brave indeed.

"It often happens that aeroplanes fly over the lines of the enemy just to see what the soldiers on the other side are doing, and sometimes they drop bombs.

"The Tank is another machine which is feared by the enemy. It is a big war automobile run by gasoline. It is covered with heavy iron and armed with big cannon. Soldiers ride inside it during a battle and fire the guns at the foe.

"A soldier's life is full of different duties. Sometimes he has to guard the camp and spend hours waiting for the enemy; at other times he stays in the trenches ready to shoot at any moment; and sometimes he is sent back of the lines where there is no fighting going on."

Eleanor asked her Uncle Jack if he were not afraid he might get hurt in the war.

"No, I do not think I will get hurt,"' he said, "but if I do, I will be well taken care of by the Red Cross doctors and nurses. There is always an ambulance nearby to take the wounded to the hospital. The ambulance drivers, and the doctors and nurses are great heroes, They never think of their own safety, and often go in the midst of shells and bombs to help or save a wounded soldier.

"But you children must not think that we fight all the time when we join the army. We soldiers have lots of fun. We have good things to eat, and plenty of time to play. When we are not on duty we have